Business owners worry about Valencia’s unique flavor being changed.
Valencia between 15th and 22nd is the place to be if you’re trying to open up a unique business.
Stephen Elliot apologizes for his absence. He is in New York promoting a new web magazine.
Everybody loves the community.
Local businesses know what makes local tuckuses look good, in a way a chain could not.
ATA believes AA is a Trojan horse.
Ritual owner thanks commissioners for doing the right thing, and calls Valencia a delicate flower.
Now I’m going to MSF. See you guys later.
Borderlands Books guy says “Why don’t they just go on to Mission Street?”
I want more singing at committee meetings.
heh. that guy is awesome.
“I’d rather have a t-shirt shop than an exhaust pipe!” (re Ritual)
Wow, this is better than TV.
jeez. every single person is white.
i do see eric quezada in the audience though.
@johnny0: I just posted about that guy in the other thread. He used to come into Ritual and scream all the time. He’s out of his damned mind.
you would be too if you had AN EXHAUST PIPE FLOODING INTO YOUR HOUSE EVERY SINGLE MOMENT! DAY AND DAY, DAY AND NIGHT! DOGS BARKING AT 6 AM! ALL DAY, I CAN’T EVEN…
take it back. MEDA dude isn’t white.
i’m sitting watching this from NY, with 2 friends. activists. they can’t believe it. they’re chuckling.
Pretty sure I the LA hat, fur jacket & sunglasses hipster was an alien in Men In Black. Think he’s my favorite so far.
Seriously though — was he saying AA paid him to give deceptive testimony?
Go girl from Needles & Pens!
That was the best part of the entire hearing so far.
it sounded something like that.
needles & pins girl was very credible i agree.
amazing turnout of people against AA.
really, a capital showing.
My views have just been swayed, i’m no longer neutral on this.
We don’t need American Apparel here in the Mission District.
As a resident of the Mission for ten years and a business owner for three years, my worst nightmare is Valencia looking like Upper Haight. I’d plain and simple have to move, and it’d be a sad ending to a beautiful and unique neighborhood.
-kiya
Owner of Self Edge (Valencia @ 18th)
http://www.selfedge.com
I posted on our statement before and just following along. Watching from LA right now and justed wanted to chime in. That guy ZERO affiliation to the company. This was his implication:
Somebody went up to this guy because he looks like the rapping Joaquin Phoenix randomly in Los Angeles to join the secret, guerilla AA street team. He was so offended that he put on his hat and sunglasses and drove or flew to San Francisco. Then, he sat, waiting 5 hours for the Commission to finally call his name to read literature that he was paid to pass out. He was a special agent of insidious intentions, no one else was hired to pass out the statement and no one else has ever read it before.
Foiled again.
My views have just been swayed, i’m no longer neutral on this.
We don’t need American Apparel here in the Mission District.
As a resident of the Mission for ten years and a business owner for three years, my worst nightmare is Valencia looking like Upper Haight. I’d plain and simple have to move, and it’d be a sad ending to a beautiful and unique neighborhood.
-kiya
Owner of Self Edge (Valencia @ 18th)
http://www.selfedge.com
xoxo
This whole “unnecessary” argument annoys me. No business on Valencia is “necessary” except St. Luke’s (and maybe the Mission Pet Hospital (ok, and 826 Valencia. Writing is important.))
Why are my new comments not showing up?
specific argument doesn’t matter. numbers will carry the day.
i could watch this all day. give me a 6-pack of PBR (hipster scum!) and i would be in heaven.
My views have just been swayed, i’m no longer neutral on this.
We don’t need American Apparel here in the Mission District.
As a resident of the Mission for ten years and a business owner for three years, my worst nightmare is Valencia looking like Upper Haight. I’d plain and simple have to move, and it’d be a sad ending to a beautiful and unique neighborhood.
-kiya
Owner of Self Edge (Valencia @ 18th)
zinzin – the numbers won’t carry the day. The PC will weigh more than just who showed up to speak. Staff recommendations, their own mood, etc, will factor.
I’m a geek – I watch these all the time.
BTW – that’s not to say I know how this thing will play out.
….edge of my seat.
Olague just slammed hipsters without saying the word.
“Legalize Valencia.” Wow. They conflate their conditional use permit fight with the immigrant rights movement. Wow, more cynical opportunistic crap from AA.
Damn, I’d love to get my hands on that street team propaganda.
http://againstamericanapparel.wordpress.com/
Olague and Antonini nailed it – AA failed to work with the neighborhood.
That’s what I fuckin said too zinzin! Just move to Mission and it’s done.
i love how the guy says valencha. It’s like my grandpa saying matur.
So is it done? Did they decide? I had to run an errand and missed the last hour.
We really should have had a meetup to watch this in a bar somewhere.
@mattstrong See my response above.
I think somebody from one of the other stores actually mentioned it, but we gave thousands of clothes to local charities.
a lot of old time sf-ers (i mean sr. citizens) say valencha.
the right way to say portola is PORtola. sounds like PORtala.
and i’m cool with them going on mission. it’s just a shame that the valencha crowd sees mission as somehow… less.
Noe Valley NAILS IT!
AA failed to work with the neighborhood.
just made a motion of intent to disapprove.
ct, we’d be drunk off our ass by now…
Sorry Shawn, I didn’t understand your comment. Are you saying that American Apparel didn’t try to hire street teams to promote the conditional use permit application on Valencia? Did that guy make up the text he read aloud?
http://againstamericanapparel.wordpress.com/
Mission isn’t white enough. No parents would allow their 13 yr old grand-daughter to walk it alone!
numbers take the day. the people have spoken!
congrats to all the fighters against AA. i know there are a lot of the earnest and well meaning folks in the crowd who just love the mission.
good for you. well done.
PARTY AT BENDERS!
Didn’t you hear? they voted to turn Bender’s into an Old Navy!
@mattarmstrong
We didn’t at all, much less import them from Los Angeles. “Legalize Valencia” doesn’t even make sense. Honestly, we’d like to be in the space, but we’re not trying to force our way in. We’ve heard a lot of support on our end, though I wouldn’t blame any of the people I’ve talked to on the phone or shared emails with for not showing up for 5 hours or so.
I’m sure that if we anticipated this response, we would have advertised our charitable efforts in the area much louder. Honestly, I’m happy to see people getting out and having their voices heard. I’m sorry that we became the embodiment of evil formula retail, but we are genuinely interested with interacting with the community on Mission. It’s a unique space. That’s precisely why we wanted to be there.
So, is ATA the walking dead? A woman representing them said their rent has already been raised from $1775/mo to $4k+/mo, and the value of that block would only increase if -anything- occupied those storefronts. I don’t see how they can survive that, at least not based on what I imagine their revenue stream looks like.
To strain the metaphor, they referred to AA as a “trojan horse”, but it’s pretty clear the soldiers are already well inside the city walls.
Thanks for clarifying, Shawn. You probably know that there other issues besides AA’s status as a formula retail company that make people wary. There’s the union busting incident, the pervasive sexual harassment, and those cheesy ads and billboards, which are pretty much a plague on LA’s landscape. Honestly, if Dov Charney weren’t such a tool, I think you’d have a lot more spontaneous support from the communities you’re trying to expand to. But, by definition, the company’s marketing and image is “provocative.” If you provoke, sometimes people respond in kind.
http://againstamericanapparel.wordpress.com/
FTW!
SO glad this didn’t pass.
Now, who amongst us will step up and fill the space with another great locally-owned business?
They’re going to replace Zeitgeist with Borders too!
Woo hoo! Empty storefronts are the new track bike. Meanwhile, how many Mission murders remain unsolved? I know, I know, losing your cred by allowing supposed “formula retail” into the neighborhood trumps everything else. Silly kids.
Stephen Elliott wasn’t even at the meeting? Gross. Nice leader, guys.
So now you’re mobilized and ready for action, what are you going to take on next? The coming THREE Whole Foodses? Crime in the Inner Mission? City ID cards? Check-cashing places? Literacy? I’m dying to see what’s next on your justice agenda.
Went to dinner and missed the vote.
But what was clear is that the commissioners viewed the “artists” as part of the problem. This was not a victory for the hipster crowd, but rather a repudiation of AA’s lack of outreach.
Another “formula retail” company may have a different result.
Although I assume all the snarky “what next” comments to be rhetorical, one of the supervisors suggested the anti-AA folks look into the good works of other community activists. Perhaps you can join them! Here’s a link to Dolores St. Community Services:
http://www.dscs.org/
And the Mission Anti-Displacement Coaltion, which opposed AA too, is doing some good work:
http://missionantidisplacement.blogspot.com/
Oh, and blaming Stephen Elliot for not showing up to the meeting is like blaming Dov Charney for not coming. (I’m sure there’s a joke in there somewhere.)
http://againstamericanapparel.wordpress.com/
I don’t know about ATA, but last I knew all the bookstores were borderline. Except for Borderlands.
So am I right in thinking it was mostly business owners who went up? Did anyone keep count?
This is bizarrely fascinating to watch. WTF with ATMs? And the Walgreen’s Castro expansion now… Dang.
@Shawn
“..we are genuinely interested with interacting with the community on Mission…”
That can’t be your interest or it would have happened. You’ve had plenty of opportunity and our protests weren’t a mystery to you. All you’re doing here is setting yourself up as the shocked, innocent victims to battle the next go ’round on the sly, using what you’ve learned. Give it up. Ain’t happening. We’re ready to kick your butt again.
@Shawn
Reading over the comments again, one thing is apparent – you keep referring to this project as “on Mission.” The street is Valencia and the neighborhood is Mission (which is also a block away from Valencia).
Seems that your (and AA’s) lack of understanding of this simple fact may be why the Commission voted against AA.
Just a typo on one post. Meant to say ‘in the Mission’. That’s all. I understand the difference (believe me). I was inundated with calls from supporters who made the presence of formula retail ON Mission abundantly clear to me.
I honestly just wanted to really be a part of the conversation, as I’ve formerly posted in this space. I personally spoke to dozens of people from the area and sent out letters to people to business owners that made their information available to me.
We donated tens of thousands of clothes to local charities in the area. We definitely could have advertised that more, but that isn’t the purpose of doing it.
There really was no way that we anticipated the response and we were hearing different things from tons of different people. I personally was impressed with the support from the anti-formula retail movement. The anti-AA stuff was a little exhausting sometimes because it wasn’t what the discussion was really about (I took one phone call in particular that was so hateful that I had to hang-up), but I’m glad there was one. But honestly, there isn’t any real need to insult me. I came to just clear up the misconception of the “Legalize Valencia” guy and to let people know that there was outreach to the community. Definitely wasn’t looking to pick a fight with anyone.
We donated tens of thousands of clothes to local charities in the area. We definitely could have advertised that more, but that isn’t the purpose of doing it.
really? it sure seems like it, albeit a little late in the game, given how many times you’ve brought it up over the last 12 hours.
While I am sure it is soothing to your aging sense of
emptiness to view your work against AA as a Form of Activism, let’s remember that: (a) in no way betters the lives of your neighbors (b) is focused on a purely meaningless circumstance (c) lacks consequence and most significantly (d) stands in opposition to the only vocal American manufacturer with fair business practices. This “win” for the loose collection of overly-degreed, lily white interests you call a “neighborhood” is pure theatre.
What you consider your “right” to neighborhood self-determination is a byproduct of the last round of gentrification. By becoming a street owned by, and catering to, the displaced exiles of the nation’s upper middle class, Valencia has transformed itself into a hotbed of the issues facing new mothers– are these diapers organic, are there too many drunks in the park– at the exclusion of ANY other political voice. You speak out on American Apparel because it is a “safe” topic. Why aren’t you campaigning against gang violence? Is it because the issue is too Latino and too dangerous? Because unlike like Dov Charney, those nasty little brown kids shoot bullets instead of semen? Why aren’t you feeding people instead of putting anti-smoking signs around the name of a business it has become fashionable to dislike (after, of course, everyone else started buying their products)?
Furthermore, jeers to Valencia merchants like that tree ent looking creature Eileen from Ritual who take it upon themselves to write letters of “concern,” and jeers to those who willingly republish them as if a local area merchant leveraging, through sheer calculation, an extension of their brand’s “cool” as if it constituted activism. In fact, it is the exact and total opposite. It is Neo-McCarthyism of the worst form. What happens to the merchants who aren’t willing to join the fight, or those who, gasp, actually wanted an American Apparel? Why were their voices silenced? For fears of reprisal. The owner of Ritual’s letter created an unnatural US-VS-THEM dichotomy for the sake of advertising the rarefied and Conscientious thinking of her establishment, in the hopes of bringing in more sympathetic customers and not, coincidentally, keeping money flowing into the coffers of AA when it could be flowing into hers.
This begs the question– raised by nearly every member of the council– if you people really believe this, why the fuck aren’t neighborhood citizens working at Ritual? Or are Latinos too declasse to allow their hands near your fucking espresso?
@the other, other mayor
Try talking to us, not at us dripping with smug condescension. You mistakenly think more words are better and actually believe you’re a good wordsmith because your vast insecurity drives you to it. But I only had to read exactly 43 of them, and no further, to realize you’re utterly and irretrievably full of crap.
Wow, you’re able to analyze that the writer has vast insecurities from just reading his letter? And you didn’t even bother to read it all yet you were able to discern his neurosis? Incredible! I thought the letter made perfect sense myself so I guess I have vast insecurities too. Oh well.
By the way your reply made no sense and is devoid of logic.
My agent will be issuing a press report Tomorrow on the opening of my new business at the contested spot on Valencia: Glen Parker’s House ‘O Nasty Porn. I promise I’ll be a great neighbor and will work with everyone on everything so will all be one happy Valencian family. Plus a free copy of “SF Catholic Schoolgirl Volume 28 for whomever asks..
BTW Zinzin, I, along with everyone I know who grew up here pronounce it Valencha. How does everybody else pronounce it?
@Glenparker
no no that’s EXACTLY what i meant. valencha is the CORRECT, TRADITIONAL way to say it. and PORtala.
@other other mayor
that’s probably the best written description of why the whole “movement” is a sham. beautiful. people want to be myopic and do this kind of thing, sure. it’s a right to be able to. but don’t call it “activism”.
well – thank god we didn;t let any new jobs get created on valencia street! now maybe another porn production company will rent the empty storefront.
Thank god my korean friend who runs her own t-shirt shop in her mission apartment will still have to go elsewhere to buy AA shirts to screen print to sell to the hipsters in the mission. Hopefully a mid-century shop that sells even more obscure Finn Juhl pieces than Monument will open up in the spot.
It’s hipster vs. hipster, gentrification vs. gentrification, no? It really is a Crisis of Meaning.
“Man, Needles and Pens was so much cooler when it was on 14th. Back in ’05, that was when it was REAL. Now all the stupid Marina transplants are hanging out there, they’ve got the big sunglasses, but their hair is still blonde. You can totally spot them. Totes lame.”
God bless you all. I’m sure we’re all really impressed.
God bless all of you, I’m sure we’re all really impressed.
as someone living on valencia street between 20th and 21st, I found the live internet stream of the hearing to be extremely entertaining. the hearing itself, and the passionate characters on display for civic viewing, may be the best thing to come out of this primarily aesthetic dispute.
does anyone know if there are copies of the footage available yet on dvd? kinda want to get drunk and watch it again with my friends…
Why were their voices silenced?
uh, what? how were their voices silenced?
talk about hysterical.
also, do you guys think those people were lying that said they had tried again and again to get a storefront on valencia? i heard that several tiems last night. unless you think it’s a big conspiracy, it sounds like a lot of those landlords are sitting on their storefronts, waiting until the rents to skyrocket.
i wish we could stop this “valencia street is plagued by empty storefronts” nonsense. like the joker who said that if we stopped american apparel, within a year we’d be begging mcdonalds to move into one of the shuttered storefronts that would line valencia. you mark your calendar, come walk around valencia street in a year, and let us know what it looks like.
Ok that’s it. Valencia is no longer part of my Mission.
If what gets your panties in a bunch and get’s you out protesting is this stupid little store then you’ve totally lost me. 300 people at the meeting??
Down here in The Mission we have real issues to deal with. Dumping, blight, robberies, failing businesses and gun violence. Give me a frickin break people. Stop calling it the Mission. You don’t exist in The Mission. You’re doing nothing to solve the real problems.
Where were you when 7 people got SHOT in the Mission in 1 week last year?
It’s faux boutique activism and it’s hideous.
@Glenparker
“…I thought the letter made perfect sense myself so I guess I have vast insecurities too…”
No. Just not very bright.
@ecoffino Yes, if you’d watched afterwards you’d have seen DVDs are available. Although, er, I missed from where. Perhaps this is the future of TV?
I was compelled to watch the rest of the meeting… Kinda interesting stuff. Ignore the ATM bit, then you get the Castro thing (very similar to AA), then you get an Ellis act thing.
@mark Probably true:
I know of at least one person who owns an empty storefront on Valencia. Not for rent because either he’s planning on doing something with it someday, or he’s using it for storage. I know the guy who rents one of the larger spots wants really good “financials”. Honestly, there isn’t any reason to rent out at a lower price if you can wait a year or two and get x3 as much. And you pay less in property tax for an unused storefront because it is “worth less”. Which makes sense, but kind of screws us over.
And I hope you all turn out to keep similar places out of the area. I suspect that stores like this on Mission Street would make things just as bad… But Dollar stores supply jobs! Well, so did that automotive repair store. And it actually gave me a useful service and probably paid the workers better.
(Actually, I should say gave my roommate a useful service. I don’t own a car.)
@the other, other mayor: I think your post begs the question, why are you such a complete and major douche?
So the comment on property owners unwilling to sell or using the buildings for storage brings me back to a question I’ve had for a long time — what’s the deal with the Groger’s Western Store?
That place is frozen in time — from the little I’ve been able to piece together, the owner passed away in the late 90′s and it hasn’t been touched since.
I love those cowboy posters in the windows though.
(For those new to MM, this thread has some good historical perspectivewith great commentary from zinzin, guero and others. )
Hey Ryan. Are you saying that American Apparel didn’t make these “Legalize Valencia” flyers?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ari/3257919964/in/set-72157613427360580/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ari/3257092777/in/set-72157613427360580/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ari/3257922398/in/set-72157613427360580/
Who made them?
http://againstamericanapparel.wordpress.com/
oh man i missed some of it when i was on my way home yesteday. this exaust pipe guy is pretty great.
“they never stop roasting their coffee!”
Well now that it’s all over the fight is really about warehouseing storefronts. That’s how all this looks at the bottom line.
There are 28 storefronts empty on Valencia. How many are being warehoused we will never know. But lets do the math:
$2,500 a month = $30,000 a year.
$10,000 a month is $120,000 a year.
So if you sit on your storefront (that today is worth $2,500 a month) for 5 years, you lose $150,000.
Then, if you rent it for $10,000 a month… it only takes you 15 months to break even.
So if you can afford to not write a 10 year lease for $2,500 which would net you like $400,000 (with increases, let say for arguement)
but instead hold out for 5 years until it’s worth $10,000 a month (or $600,000)
that’s $200,000 and 5 years without having to deal with a tenant. And if you write a lease (usually 10 years with an option)… it’s a hassle.
So if you don’t see this already happening, I think we should just agree to disagree and stop talking. Because this is already totally happening. We’ve all seen it happen before. No one wants fancy over price boutiques only. We all want fun, cool, interesting stuff. But that’s not the arguement.
The arguement is that the store rents are gonna go up, the apartment rents are gonna go up and there is no shortage of billionaires to come kick the millionaires out. AA would have been the best thing for cafe’s and restaurants nearby in the short term. But the only cafe that can afford to stay in business in a mall is Starbucks. That’s why only Starbucks is in malls.
Everyone can insult everyone else here in the safety of your keyboards and such but there are major problems here in the mission. People who are passionite about the mission will hopefully help out with the problems. But it doesn’t help us if they lose their leases and apartments to skyrocketing rents. Then we got new people. It’s all different.
And as for the mission being host to new mothers, your just showing your age. Both me and you wouldn’t have time for this if we had youngins’. Mr. Other Other mayor sounds a little bitter. It happens bro. People have kids. Kids go to parks. Bums are kinda fun, but kinda weird for kids. You should go play with the kids in the park. It’s fun.
Sorry for the long post.
Dear Chicken John,
1. Don’t your personal relations require a disclosure before you come with an overly simplified economic discussion of market forces? I’m just saying, you know, as you’ve all taken this down a path that no one else has yet discussed– I guess by your royal decree that it’s “all over”– that mayhaps we should inquire as to why you might be so concerned with storefront warehousing and its threats to existing businesses. I’d also be interested to know if these relations in any way influence your need to smokescreen Ritual’s complete lack of employees which in any way reflect the actual makeup of the neighborhood for which she feels so much PLUR?
I mean to ask, you know, don’t you have a dog in this race, and do you jump when it barks through its jowls?
2. What clown suit will you be wearing when you lead the fight against storefront warehousing? I’d like to ready and marshal my forces, collecting together my seltzer water and cream pies, so I can get be present at the moment when you bring yet another completely valid issue into the sewer of your self-entitled egotism. I’d like to be there, lending a hand, when you delegitimize and actively damage another worthy cause with your hilarious mix of aging Burnerisms and warmed over Political Irreverence.
@ other, other….
leave chicken alone. he’s spent the last 10 years hurling himself into already existing spotlights and doing silly dances. it’s to be expected, and has little effect on anything. welcome to sf politics. everyone’s a whore for attention & self-advancement.
@ chicken
i’ve really loved some of the things you’ve done over the years…running for mayor, the sewage plant thing. really, comedy / activism is a skill, and you’ve done it well. not to much consequence, but i always thought that was the idea. it’s been quite…art-like.
but i gotta say, it’s a little fishy how you’ve positioned yourself as some self-appointed “leader” in the mission, only AFTER this bullshit AA thing provided a safe, easy, meaningless spotlight into which you could hurl yourself.
your use of the word “we” and your assuming the mantle of “organization and struggle” seems overly dramatic to me. and less than sincere.
i mean, where was your bullhorn when 15 people got killed in the hood last summer? where was your bullhorn on MLK day when folks were out in rubber gloves picking up crap on capp & mission & shotwell? where was your bullhorn when we had to beg local businesses for donations to build alioto park on 20th? where was your bullhorn 10 years ago when extant latino businesses got ousted so we could have $5 coffee and taxidermy mice?
out doing an art-like project, i am assuming. which is cool. but let’s call it what it is: self-involved.
i personally think your comments are mostly right on, but they’re bathed in such obvious quest for self-promotion, it all rings a little hollow in my humble opinion.
i hope i’m wrong about your motives, but history says i’m not. time will tell, i guess.
Is the dog that chicken john is an owner, not a renter?
“Well I own my building. So I’m not going anywhere. It changes things when you not renting.”
Nothing at all wrong with that — I bet ATA wishes they could have bought years ago. But it needs to be out there as he defends the plight of the oppressed store owner dealing with rent increases.
There’s also the whole “we’ll buy your building….we’ll buy you out” commentary.
And i have no clue abput Chicken’s personal finances or history. But really…buy out with what funds? All these “I can’t get a space on Valencia” folks all talk about scrimping and saving and putting their lives on the line, and barely hanging on in the face of great corporate big box adversity.
Fuck…. I just posted about 2 properties in the hood for sale. Why not go buy those? Oh, wait they’re on mission. Too….ethnic.
And I personally don’t have an issue with the pursuit of wealth. I spend a lot of my time doing that. Taxidermy mice be spendy.
I don’t even mind trust fund kids. Fuck, I wish it was me.
But I agree that it shouldn’t be veiled, and particularly not behind a smokescreen of “activism” or “community building”.
This is not to say that folks with monty can’t be activists or community builders…but liars are liars no matter how they spend their time.
I’m kind of surprised properties zoned for retail can be used for storage. Any property lawyers or zoning experts want to pipe up?
So, Chicken John, here’s your chance to be constructive and proactive — what’s the solution to the empty storefronts? What’s the incentive that moves a property owner to rent vs letting their property sit empty?
Jesus guys, I’ll offer to buy a building or take someone to Death Valley in a golf cart but that doesn’t mean I have a golf cart or a million dollars. I spend my last dollar almost every day. A building for sale on Valencia street sells off market. If you didn’t know that, you know that now. They rent off market too. That means it all happens without it being advertised. The demand is huge. So if someone is warehouseing a building hoping for Starbucks money… I hope they will sell now. I can’t buy it, but I know 20 people who can. And will. It’s kinda my thing. I’m a hooker-upper.
As for spotlights and attention whore I’m guilty. Ya got me.
I do stand in front of a lot of people. I really do. Come over to my house. Go to my trash folder. Look at the hundreds of emails. Hundreds. No shit. When I send a thing out to my list, I need to carve out 3 hours to respond. All that, but only 20 people come to the Ask Dr. Hal Show. And so it goes. But as for self-appointed leader guys, you could do worse. Whadda ya want me to do, nothing? Stay at home? Be gentler? I can take all the lumps. I don’t mind. I don’t really need the attention. I get so much attention. But it’s a muscle. So I like to use it. To do stuff like this:
http://www.defenderofjustice.com
That’s 54 million. I cost City Tow fifty four million dollars. That’s a class action law suit that i put together in like 10 hours. With 2 full page ads. Easy. Showboaty? Sure. I even profitied. I put in the ad for everyone to send me a dollar. I spent like $4,000 and got $6,000. Eveeryone sent $20. I gave the money to Black Rock ARts Foundation.
The Sewer thing wasn’t my thing either. Brian Mconnaly. Great guy. Just needed a push. I ran for mayor because Jeremy Pollock said that it would help him get laid. Really. That’s just how things roll.
I’m now going to adrress the question from Johnny O:
What’s the solution to empty storefronts?
When the property owner sees that rents are going down, not up. He/she will stop warehouseing. We already saw this in NY and Seattle. We know how it works. I think the thing to do to stop warehouseing is slam dunk NO CHAIN STORES. Even ones that help the little childrern.
That’s why we all need to do victory laps and talk about this as much as possible. To let them know that the chain stores are never comming.
That’s what I got. I apologize if I’m loud and abrasive. I’m just trying to be effective. Effective is good. Loud is annoying. Warehouseing is bad.
As for my dog in the race, I have lifelong, dear frineds who own shops on Valencia. 5 and diamond. Clothes Contact. Cyclops tatoo. Amnesia. New sound Audio. U Save Plumbing. As well as things that I have hunderds of voulenteer hours like ATA. I have an intensly strong bond with Ritual. I also have designs to open a business of my own on Valencia, some day. I have owned 4 business’ in the mission. I own my building on Army adn Mission.
Now as for where is my bullhorn when people are dead or Latinos are gentrified… I’m right here. I just can’t jump on every fight. Your invited to call me. My phone number is all over the web, just search for it. I was asked to help out the Bush Sewage thing. I was asked to help with the AA thing. If there is something that I can be of service for, just let me know. I’ve got some tools you can use. And I never say no.
But if you guys really wanna hate me, I can help you.
I’m a Libertarian!
Aw Chicken. it’s not hate. really. i think you’re a cool customer. we likely have friends in common.
and thanks for your answers. they seem honest & open, which i appreciate.
seems to me you’re an accomplished promoter of events that have a sort of subversive political / art twist. a hooker-upper. a generator of interest. a facilitator of sorts. and for the most part….of things with meaning.
events. subversive. political. art. ideas. meaning. that’s all cool. the class action suit, i mean….that’s fab. i didnt know about that one.
thing is, your effective & compelling “punk rock p.t. barnum” thing – which again, i think is swell – is completely antithetical to the holier-than-thou, mission-as-delicate-flower (barf), faux “community struggle”, white enclave building, competition-limiting thing that is this whole anti-AA shenanigan.
this isn’t an event. it isn’t a showcase. it’s nimby-ism masquerading as activism. it’s gentrifiers decrying gentrification. it’s hollow, and it’s a sham.
ah well, i wont go on. i think you’re a cool guy that does cool things. really.
but i think you either got duped or compromised yourself on this one. it’s not good for the hood man. it’s good for your friends maybe, and for a limited time maybe…but not for the hood.
maybe we can work together on something sometime though. i think it would be fun.
all the best.
zz
to johnny0′s point, how is it that these owners are allowed to warehouse? where are the zoning enforcement officials? if that’s the answer to why there are the 26-28 empty storefronts from duboce to cesar chavez, it’s utter bullshit. and that, perhaps, would’ve been a more noble fight for the anit-AA crowd.
I’m surprised there’s not some sort of tax penalty if you don’t use something for the purpose it was zoned, or leave it empty after a certain period of time. That would be a powerful incentive to use it or lose (money on) it…
Groger’s Western Goods would make a nice restaurant, vs the Western Museum it is now.